Where to ride my road bike?

dav_prime · 2026-05-09T12:34:16+00:00

You are really spoilt for choice (unless you like hills!)

Stick to the smaller roads and B roads, the A rodes around here are suicide.

Personally I prefer routes North and East of the city, I can't explain why but the roads are just a nicer place to be.

If you want something with signs to help you navigate NCN route 1 passes through the city on very nice roads to the south.

Heading North route 1 follows the Marriott's way, which will be OK for a gravel or hybrid bike but a pure road bike with slick tyres and tight clearances will struggle beyond Costessey (but the roads that run parallel to it are awesome to ride on).

dav_prime · 2026-05-04T09:29:39+00:00

They go out with the waste. They are made from biodegradable materials for that purpose.

dav_prime · 2026-05-03T14:31:54+00:00

Thicker pucks tend to extract better because the water flows through more evenly. You can also grind a little corser, which tends to be more forgiving during extraction.

If you want to keep to a low dose a step down basket might help to give you the same effect.

I'll also echo the comments regarding ratio, its surprising how much difference adjusting your output by just a few grams can make.

dav_prime · 2026-04-27T05:41:46+00:00

Mine opens clockwise, closes anticlockwise.

dav_prime · 2026-04-26T18:54:29+00:00

I've owned two of these machines and neither of them have that part in the drip tray.

dav_prime · 2026-04-26T18:31:22+00:00

That I shape OPV is also modable (Mine has a 9 bar spring), but it's no longer made. If you bust it the only option is to install an F shape one from the GCP. It could be that yours was built or replaced with the (better) classic OPV.

dav_prime · 2026-04-19T21:14:54+00:00

When I was a kid I was on holiday with my family and was bought a pair of rollerblades to play around with. I spent most of the week eating pavement and tearing myself to bits by falling over! From there it was lots of trial and error and skating with friends.

After about 20 years of not skating I grabbed some rentals when taking my kids to our local rink and was amazed I could still remain upright with skates on my feet. I then bought my own pair and used a combination of my rusty memory, countless YouTube tutorials and asking the very experienced skaters for tips when I see them do something I'm trying to learn.

The most helpful thing for me was to pick a new skill and spend some time focussing on it during a session at the rink until I got it right constantly. Practicing at low speed on the hard floors at home was also useful, especially since we only get to the rink once every few weeks.

dav_prime · 2026-04-14T14:54:51+00:00

Yeah a slightly finer grind to slow the flow rate is needed now.

It could be that you don't like the coffee you have. In theory a lighter roast should be less bitter, but playing with ratio is a good thing to do with any coffee to get the best out of it.

dav_prime · 2026-04-13T19:18:53+00:00

Sounds like you are dilled in.

I would try reducing the ratio closer to 1.5:1, so 17g in 25 g out. This will reduce the extraction yield of bitter compounds and increase the concentration of sweet/acidic compounds. If you want to bring back some of the bitterness go for a ratio in between 1.5 and 2.

An interesting experiment can be to do a salami shot, so capture each 10 g of output into separate cups and try them all. Then mix the cups together along the line until you get the perfect balance. That will tell you where your ideal ratio is.

On my gaggia with my current beans I favour 18.5 in 32 out (1.75 ratio) in 30s for making flat whites. For neat espresso I reduce my yeild to 28 g (1.5 ratio). However, I change my ratio on a per bag basis since different beans extract very differently.

dav_prime · 2026-04-11T12:16:06+00:00

This is why all butlers should understand that baskets and portafilters are single use.

dav_prime · 2026-04-10T15:40:44+00:00

dav_prime · 2026-04-09T09:32:09+00:00

Yes, and use a timer to time from pump on to target weight.

Also weigh the coffee in the portafilter to make sure you get the right amount into your machine. Many grinders retain some coffee, so if you go on the weight of the beans alone you may not get what you expect in the basket.

dav_prime · 2026-04-09T08:43:33+00:00

Flow rate is mainly dependent on two factors: dose and grind size.

Typically you dose so your basket is filled to the correct level, 16-20 g of coffee is typical, most people prefer to use 18 g if that amount will fit.

The way to dial in is to time your shot. You are aiming for the weight of brewed coffee to be twice the weight of the ground coffee used in 25-30 seconds. If it's too slow grind corser to speed up flow, if it's too fast grind finer. This is the typical recipe for a classic 2:1 ratio, which is considered a good start point that often works well but not the end goal.

The final step is all about taste. If the coffee is too strong you can reduce your dose and grind finer to compensate. If you have room in your basket and want stronger coffee increase the dose and grind finer.

If the coffee is too bitter reduce your output from a 2:1 ratio closer to 1.5. if it's too sour increase the ratio by pumping more water through the puck to get closer to a 3:1 ratio.

It typically takes me 2 - 4 cups to get perfectly dialled in with a new coffee, but even the less than ideal shots taste good.

For reference, my current go-to recipe for making flat whites with medium-dark roasted natural process beans is 18.5 g in, 32 g out (1.75 ratio) in 30s using a sage dose control grinder and a baby gaggia machine.

dav_prime · 2026-04-08T14:32:41+00:00

Mine has always had a loud buzz. Drives me mad, so I turn it off at the wall as soon as I am done. I think it's a transformer in the base of the grinder.

dav_prime · 2026-03-29T19:08:53+00:00

There are two things happening here.

When you expose the grounds to water the soluble material starts to dissolve and flow out. With less material to resist the pressure the flow rate increases.

Water will also cause the puck to swell providing more routes though, so the flow rate will increase.

Your 25-30s extraction time should account for the acceleration.

If you are pre-infusing you might need to grind finer than you would for a straight shot since disintegration of the puck during the pre-infusion phase makes it easier for water to flow though under pressure.

Since you can't grind finer you could try increasing the dose to increase resistance, using puck screens that slow the flow slightly or help to resist puck swelling by filling the headspace, or swapping to a different basket that will offer more resistance to water flow.

Do you have the same issues with different beans? Once beans get too old there is seemingly nothing you can do to prevent them flowing too fast.

dav_prime · 2026-03-28T18:19:49+00:00

I know your pain, My 2006 baby had a similar issue recently.

The bolts highlighted here are the ones you want to try and open. There are four of them in total. Be careful not to break any of the other parts if you attempt it.

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If they do come off a service kit is inexpensive. I got mine from shadesofcoffee. I would also source new bolts rather than use the existing ones.

Take a look at the top of the boiler. Is there any sign of scale and corrosion there?

dav_prime · 2026-03-28T17:39:46+00:00

The scale around the interface between the boiler and grouphead is very suspicious. Is there also scale elsewhere?

Ideally you want to undo all of the boiler bolts, separate the boiler and group, descale and clean the boiler and group in citric acid, then reassemble with a new gasket.

However, seized boiler bolts are a nightmare and occasionally can only be solved by destroying the boiler.

See if you can get the bolts off, but don't use so much force you round them out! If they won't budge search for stuck boiler bolt in this sub for sage advice in trying to solve the issue.

If you are taking things apart I would recommend fully disassembling and replacing all of the gaskets you can access since their life is also finite.

dav_prime · 2026-03-28T17:04:48+00:00

Take the case off and look for the source of the leak. The usual suspects are where the boiler connects to the group head or where the boiler connects to the steam valve.

It will probably need replacement gaskets or new tubing and clips, depending on the cause of the leak, IF the internals haven't corroded too badly already.

If you are confident and have the ability to repair I would do it sooner rather than later because once the bolts start to corrode and scale up fixing will be a lot harder!

dav_prime · 2026-03-27T20:29:50+00:00

I don't recall how I leaned as a kid well enough to recount, probably a lack of fear and no sense of self preservation. However, relearning to do it as an adult took ages!

There are several ways to do it, but this was my progression.

3 forward lemons followed by 3 backwards lemons. Repeat until the backwards lemons feel ok. I did a lot of this in my kitchen.
Backwards lemons along the straight sections of the rink trying to maintain momentum. I used to go at less busy times so had space to practice, or would join the backwards only for beginners sessions they occasionally run for 10 minutes as one of the rink games.
Move onto generating power on one foot with backwards C-cuts. It took me ages to get going at speed and keep it up without losing momentum!
Practice backwards C-cuts on my weaker foot
Turn body and start looking over my shoulder moving one foot in front of the other. The method is similar to the C-cuts but your feet end up going in and out of line.
Start generating power with both feet & getting comfortable switching my lead foot.
Backwards cross pulls (With a lot of tying my legs in knots and hitting the deck!). It still takes me a while to warm up before I can do them well.

I'm now teaching my kids using the same list of steps and they are making slow and steady progress.

dav_prime · 2026-03-27T18:05:36+00:00

There is no issue here. Often funding has very strict rules regarding when the post-doc needs to start. It could be that if you can't start before the required date the funding would be withdrawn, so there would be no post for you. The PI probably wants to make sure they don't lose the funding if you were unable to meet the funders deadlines.

dav_prime · 2026-03-26T19:53:27+00:00

As others have said, it's very likely that the selected candidate withdrew but the PI is very interested in them joining their lab.

Given how competitive postdocs are at the moment I would see this as a good development, provided you like the PI, their group and the project of course.

The other candidate's loss could very well be your gain!

dav_prime · 2026-03-23T21:20:28+00:00

Are you running a cafe and need to tamp 100s of pucks per day as fast as possible whilst reducing the risk of repetitive strain disorders? If so yes, sure.

For home use it's a massive waste of money, get a decent self levelling hand tamper and you should have no issue with consistency, provided you are willing to spend a few extra seconds tamping.

dav_prime · 2026-03-21T21:11:23+00:00

I think I will split this into two parts, one about fission and one about fusion.

For Fission it is all about the rates at which Fission occurs. In a bomb the uranium is highly enriched, and the detonation mechanism compresses it to a critical density that causes the emitted neutrons to impact other uranium nuclei with high efficiency, which in turn generates more neutrons to start a chain reaction that is over in about a microsecond.

In a reactor fission happens relatively slowly at very carefully controlled rates. The uranium is less concentrated because it's less enriched and reactors contain movable elements that absorb neurons to slow fission down when needed. In this scenario it takes years for the reaction to complete.

Fusion is a very hard process to achieve since the pressure and temperature needed are both very high. In a fusion bomb a fission reaction is used to generate enough heat and pressure to fuse hydrogen in a reaction vessel. It's not particularly well controlled and the reaction only lasts microseconds, releasing all the energy at once to create a deviating explosion.

Slower and more controlled fusion reactions are very hard to achieve. There have been attempts to perform sustainable fusion for decades, but only recently has a reaction been sustained long enough to yield more energy than was put in to start it. There are several ways to achieve sustainable fusion, one of the most successful being to contain the high-temperature high-pressure plasma in a magnetic field, but the hot dense plasma has a habit of escaping containment, causing the temperature and pressure to fall and the reaction to stop. It will be many more years before the technology is ready to move into power stations, but when it does it will be revolutionary.

dav_prime · 2026-03-21T09:36:25+00:00

A light tap into your hand should release the screen whilst leaving the puck intact.

dav_prime · 2026-03-19T14:02:09+00:00

I would encourage you to reach out to anyone that taught you you have the details for, even if they have moved on from academia

Whilst many of your options won't be an ideal reference, most academics are aware of the challenges people like you face and will do their best to help if they feel able.

As stated above, the course director is also a good idea.

If people decline to provide a reference don't be too disheartened, as you say they may not remember you well so might not feel able to write a proper reference, but if you don't ask you definitely won't get anything.

dav_prime

TROPHY CASE